Hey @Shadey what’s your favorite medium? Maybe not even favorite but what materials do you like working on and what do you like to put on it?
I touched a canvas for the first time recently and it was an experience and a half. Lmao
3 Likes
Hi Diggy, with an airbrush the best surface to paint on is a Tshirt as the air moves through the cotton and not out sideways across the surface. as it hits it so you dont have to be so careful with air pressure and control.
I have only dabbled with oils, 99% of my work is with acrylics, used urethane paints for candy colours when doing real fire techniques.
All surfaces present challenges with an air brush, a canvass if you dont gesso heavily, will catch the paint at angles in the little weave pockets, so you have to try and paint straight at it. I like canvas as apposed to bike parts, as the prep work is practically zero, compared to de greasing, sanding down and priming the parts to be painted, and then having to clear coat to protect the artwork and base coat.
What did you use to paint on the canvas?
2 Likes
Getting really bored atm, caught up on a lot of my to do list, so I thought I would start another picture. My daughters birthday soon and she loves sun flowers so I thought I would have a crack at painting one as a birthday card to hang on the wall.
Here’s my reference pic.
Painting on a 8X10 in canvas so detail is going to be tight and time consuming which is good 
Going with a blue sky background as there are hints of green around the petals, so any over spray will go green when the yellow is applied over the top.
Cut my stencil and weighted it down with some big washers and hosed on the blue, darker at the top lighter at the bottom same as the real sky if anyone hasn’t noticed lol.
Removed my stencil and pencilled in the petals and center of the flower. I have messed up already the stem is too wide. Cant just add more blue in there as it will create a line, one of the disadvantages of airbrushing . So I will have to blend out that edge with some white first, or put a leaf across it to hide some of it.
6 Likes
You need a big ass Bumble bee gathering the good stuff
1 Like
I was thinking of a Lady Bug, maybe both, see how much time I have, her birthday is in 2 weeks.
2 Likes
Bit more done this morning but the daughters lap top has died and she needs my PC for a uni exam today so I am barred from my man cave painting room for the time being.
Painted in my center with a dark brown, then laid some window mesh over it to create the seed pattern, but when I removed the mesh it pulled the paint off underneath 
one of the hazards of canvas painting you cant sand it to get a good mechanical paint attachment
So went over it with a fine detail paint brush and did it all by hand. Added high lights and yellow pistils, got a little depth to it now, so moving on the the petals and will come back for the real details.
4 Likes
3 Likes
That’s a nice pic but I won’t have time too paint that humming bird.
1 Like
Here is a picture update.
I sprayed white over the edge of the blue and narrowed the stalk, then I sprayed in the green on the stem, and masked the edge with pinstripe tape, when I pulled the tape it pulled of the blue in places.
Did some more work blending the orange and yellow on the petals, still more to be done there.
Also the over spray was causing green on the blue around the petals so decided to paint around the petals with a paint brush for a hard edge. Got the petals closer to what I wanted. Just have to re establish the edge of the seeds in the middle of the flower next and highlight.
7 Likes
That’d make a great 
seed package. 
1 Like
Finally got a decent pic of it outside in natural light, re did the internal seed area as it got heavy over spray on it and darkened up the orange on the petals. I wanted to re do the back ground, but the daughter likes it as is, and its just a birthday card painting so it will stay that way until she goes back to University, providing she doesn’t take it with her lol, and I will mask off the flower and do the background blue over again.
13 Likes
Wow i missed out after the snoop one until now! So much talent I’m happy to see you aren’t letting it go to waste, i know a few amazing artist that just don’t do it anymore. When I was a child i wanted to be able to draw good so badly but i was more of a stickman or mis-shaped drawing of a truck kind of kid, but it all worked out my now 10 year old daughter is a amazing artist and i am so happy and proud something i wanted to be i can still watch her and i enjoy it as much or more than i would have if it had been me as a kid. If you are interested i can put up a pic or 2 of her art… Also thanks for sharing your art i really enjoyed this thread and am happy i found it again.
4 Likes
Yeah fire them up man, I would like to see them👍
You can always pick up a pencil and start again, it’s all just practice, a series of corrections untill there is nothing left to correct. I have been looking at Snoop Dogg for 8 months now, and I have found a couple of problems that were bugging me with it, so I will be editing it soon. I need to move his eye lid corner’s closer to the nose, this will make the face look narrower.
4 Likes
I think snoop looks great! I still look forward to seeing the changes.
Here are a few drawings and paintings there are alot more but I’m not sure where she put them. I think for 10 she is off to a good start it definitely makes me proud.
6 Likes
For a 10 year old they are good
She gets perspective and proportions well, faces are always tricky, but there are simple ways to learn placement of features and the right spacing.
Good quality paper helps dramatically, it allows erasers and scratching for highlights.
The hardest part is learning to look at your reference, and break it down into shades of light and dark or colour and draw what you see, not what you think you see. Sometimes it is easier if you draw the picture upside down or just isolate areas to stop the brain from interfering.
4 Likes
I may have to start buying her better quality paper and supplies, we’ve definitely been supporting her to continue art, she has no shortage of different pencils and pastels and paints and brushes and lots more. How do you know what a good paper is?
2 Likes
Usually by the cost 
. It depends on what you want to do with it but drawing paper is usually thicker, paper and is graded by weight, good drawing paper is listed between 60 and 90 lbs. The heavier the weight the thicker the paper.
1 Like
There is loads of YouTube vids showing tutorials, I learned lots of techniques and stuff from YouTube vids.
2 Likes
She’s been on YouTube when she gets stuck and can’t get something to look how she wants.
1 Like
That’s good, really it’s just enjoying what you do, so practice is fun and you keep challenging your abilities, once she goes up in the higher grade school, she might be able to join a group, when you can see how others do something and be able to ask questions, you can learn quite quickly.
2 Likes